


the prettiest (and realest) ghost.

by doctorkaitlyn



Series: teen wolf femslash bingo. [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff, Implied Jennifer Blake/Kali, Minor Lydia Martin/Malia Tate, No Actual Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 20:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4535967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorkaitlyn/pseuds/doctorkaitlyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kira is about ninety-two percent sure that the laundry room in the basement of her apartment building is haunted. </p>
<p>written for the Braeden/Kira square on my Teen Wolf Femslash Bingo card.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the prettiest (and realest) ghost.

**Author's Note:**

> I was lacking inspiration for this square, so I used the prompt, “escaped to the laundry room to avoid hearing my room-mates having extremely loud sex only to find you’re here doing the same thing.” I hope you lovely people enjoy. <3

Kira is about ninety-two percent sure that the laundry room in the basement of her apartment building is haunted. 

Even though she's the only one in the room, she swears that she keeps hearing footsteps. Five minutes go by with only the loud hum of the dryer as noise but just as she picks up her earbuds again, the floor creaks. She whips her head around, quickly scanning the small, cramped room. It's well-lit and there's only one entrance, so there's absolutely nowhere that someone could be hiding, and there's no weird shadows or cold spots that might indicate the presence of a ghost. 

(Not that Kira believes in ghosts. Not at all.)

Still, a shiver runs up her spine and it takes a few moments for her heart to stop beating at double time. Once she's calmed down slightly, she re-situates herself, sitting on one of the empty dryers with her back against the wall, facing the closed door. 

No matter how many times she tries to reassure herself, the room remains creepy. But it still beats staying in her apartment and listening to her roommate have very loud, energetic sex with their girlfriend. 

After a few more moments go by without any weird, out of place noises, she looks away from the door and lets her fingers drop from the small dagger tucked inside her boot. She relaxes back against the wall, shifts so that a dial stops digging into her back, puts her headphones back in and pulls her computer onto her lap. Somehow, she's able to connect to the wi-fi from the coffee shop on the first floor of the building and she has three episodes of The X-Files left to watch. She's pretty sure that it won't take Malia and Lydia that long to finish up but she doesn't want to risk walking in while they're still occupied. 

She's just pressed play when the door flies open. 

Kira yelps slightly and knocks her headphones out of her ears. She yanks the knife out of her boot and hops off the dryer, all before she realizes that there's a person standing in the doorway, a woman who appears to be actual flesh and blood, not some kind of angry spirit. 

"Hello to you too," the woman says, completely nonplussed, shifting her drawstring bag of laundry in her arms. 

"I thought you were a ghost!" Kira blurts out. 

"Really?" the woman asks dryly, raising an eyebrow before heading over to the nearest washing machine. "Know many ghosts who do laundry for fun?"

"No," Kira sighs. She tucks her knife back into her boot before hopping back onto the dryer. "I'm sorry. This place kind of makes me paranoid." 

"It's fine. I'm glad there's someone else down here, actually. This place _is_ kind of creepy." As she loads up her clothing, Kira realizes that she recognizes the woman, sort of. She's seen her in the elevator a few times, usually with her long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, gym bag over her shoulder. Kira wonders if she should mention that, or if it would just come across as creepy. Thankfully, before she can make a decision, the woman spins around and hops onto a nearby washing machine, long legs dangling down. 

"You live on the eighth floor, right?" 

"Yeah," Kira says. "And you're on the sixth?" The woman nods, brushing some of her hair away from her face. 

"Yep. I'm Braeden."

"Kira." Kira gives a little half-wave before dropping her hand into her lap, cheeks flushing slightly. Her laptop is still open beside her and she tugs her headphones out, putting them in her pocket. 

"Want to watch The X-Files?" she asks. "That's what I was doing before I, um, tried to attack you." 

"Sure. I'm only on the second season though." 

"That's fine," Kira says hurriedly, hopping off the dryer and climbing onto the washing machine next to the one Braeden is perched on. "I don't mind rewatching it." 

"Depends on the episode," Braeden replies, pulling her legs up and crossing them. There's a slight hole in the knee of her jeans and Kira feels a tiny urge to pick at it. "Some of them are ridiculous." 

"They're terrible!" Kira laughs. "And the clothes!" 

"The _pants_ ," Braeden says quietly, like she's describing some atrocity. "The pants are so bad." Kira bursts out into laughter, absently navigating to the season two menu. 

She never gets around to picking an episode; after she agrees with Braeden about the show's wardrobe, they get picking apart another aspect of the show. From there, it's off to the races. By the time that Kira realizes that both Braeden's washing and her own drying are done, her laptop is about to die and her throat hurts from talking so much. 

"I wonder how long our clothes have been done for," she asks absently, shutting her laptop down before it completely dies. 

"About an hour," Braeden says. When Kira looks up at her, she shrugs and smiles slightly. 

"I heard the dryer turn off," she continues. "But I was having too much fun talking to you. Sorry." 

"Don't be! I was going to stay down here for awhile anyways, just in case my roommate and their girlfriend weren't done, uh, making noise yet."

"Yours too?" Braeden groans, rolling her eyes slightly. "I could hear Kali and Julia before I even walked through the door." 

"Same with Malia and Lydia! I don't think they even noticed that I came home, actually." Reluctantly, Kira slides off the washing machine and walks over to the dryer. If she leaves her clothes too long, they're going to be hopelessly wrinkled and there's some studying she needs to do if she wants to pass her upcoming midterms. 

"Well, if it happens again anytime soon..." When Kira turns around, Braeden has hopped off the dryer and is scribbling something down on a piece of paper torn from a phone book left lying on the table just inside the door. 

"Feel free to give me a call. Or stop by, if you'd like." Braeden presses the ragged piece of paper into Kira's open palm and in the seconds before Braeden steps away, Kira realizes that she can feel calluses on Braeden's fingertips. 

"Okay. Definitely!" Kira says, biting back the dozens of other words that want to spill from her mouth. "That sounds awesome." Braeden gives her a dazzling grin before turning back to the washing machine. Kira sighs happily and smiles as she unloads all of her clothes. 

She is _so_ glad that Braeden didn't turn out to be a ghost. 

She smiles the entire way back up to her apartment; even the ominous creaking of the elevator can't make her grin waver. But as soon as she unlocks her door, a sound that she's all too familiar with hits her ear and she groans. 

She _really_ thought that they would have been done by now. 

She only stays long enough to put her laundry in her room and grab her laptop charger. After a moment of debating between going to the school to study or grabbing some coffee, her fingers close around the scrap of paper in her pocket. That's all she needs to make a decision. 

The elevator creaks even louder on her way back down to the basement. When she opens the door of the laundry room, Braeden is perched on the washing machine again, reading what looks like a battered sci-fi novel. 

"Well, aren't you the prettiest ghost ever," Braeden says, with a smile and a quiet laugh. Kira feels her entire face turn red and for a moment, all she can do is stammer. 

"My roommate is still busy," she finally manages to say. "Do you want to get some coffee?" Braeden's smile grows even wider and she snaps the book closed before casually tossing it aside. 

"There's nothing I'd like more."

**Author's Note:**

> as always, I can be found on [tumblr.](http://banshee-cheekbones.tumblr.com/) :)


End file.
